The first Everything but the Girl collection to effectively juggle the duo's largely acoustic early recordings and more electronic later work (or to even make the attempt), Like the Deserts Miss the Rain is the perfect place for fans of either period to investigate their full career. Since their musical aesthetic rarely diverted from spare, elegant, melancholy pop (whether the instrumentation was a small group with horn chart or keyboards with beat-heavy rhythms), the disc flows smoothly from their 1996 drum'n'bass version of the Brazilian standard "Corcovado" (from Red Hot + Rio) to 1984's acoustic bossa "Each and Every One" to a Chicane remix of "Before Today." Another nice touch is including Tracey Thorn's best outside appearance -- on Massive Attack's "Protection" -- and a pair of great songs from a 1993 single, including a startlingly effective version of Captain Beefheart's "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains." Similar to 2001's Home Movies collection, Like the Deserts Miss the Rain has a few surprising omissions (nothing from 1988's gorgeous Idlewild?) but does succeed in delivering great material from one of British pop's most talented artists. ~ John Bush
Full Title - Like The Deserts Miss The Rain. This collection stuffs a single CD with 16 tracks from albums and singles released between 1984-1999. Rhino. 2003.
Everything But The Girl: Tracey Thorn, Ben Watt.
Producers include: Everything But The Girl, Ben Watt, Robin Millar, Nelle Hooper, Massive Attack.
Personnel: Ben Watt (vocals, guitar, piano, electric piano, organ, synthesizer, Moog synthesizer, sampler); Tracey Thorn (vocals); Pete King & His Orchestra & Chorus, Nigel Nash, Dick Pearce (horns); Cara Tivey (piano, organ); Frank Ricotti (vibraphone, marimba); Bill Le Sage (vibraphone); Dave Mattacks, Rob Peters, Charlie Morgan (drums); Martin Ditcham (percussion); Spring Heel Jack (programming).
Audio Mixers: Mark "Spike" Stent; Massive Attack; Nellee Hooper; Andy Bradfield; Spring Heel Jack; Ben Watt.
Audio Remixers: Jose Burgos; Leo Elstob; Nick Bracegirdle; Paul Watkins; Photek; Sandy Rivera; Todd Terry.
Editor: Ben Watt.
Photographers: Marcelo Krasilcic; Richard Haughton; Ben Watt.Rolling Stone (4/17/03, p.109) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Thorn mulls, mopes and spins melancholy yarns with just a choice few words....Crying on the dance floor never sounded so good..."
Ughh... The songs included on this album are EBTG's best, but they are the electronic remix versions. I absolutely despise the Todd Terry remix of Missing. It doesn't come close to the original version, and I don't understand why people like fake electronic music better than the real thing. Submitted by Someone (Pennsylvania) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
A True Classic - Bridge Across Time and Space It has been over 6 years since I last meet her. When we were studying, living together on campus, we would often hear this song on the radio she gifted me on my birthday. She would say “I want to be the sweet music in your life” – and although she is now just a memory, but, for the moments I hear “Missing”, she comes alive to me, like a sweet music in my life. This song is indeed very powerful - a true bridge across Time and Space. Submitted by shewaslikealondonrain (some where across time and space) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
We have everything...but the girl Tracey and Ben surprised me with this collection of greatest hits plus a couple of new remixes. Besides that sophisticated jazz-pop and the electronica, the voice of Tracey is outstanding. One of my favorite songs is "protection", almost perfect and so melancholic. EBTG had thier time in the late 90's when all the electronic movement began but they always keep us in the way, missing them...like the desserts miss the rain. Submitted by yerro29 (Baltimore, MD, USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Such Soothing Brilliance No album has captured my attention quite like EBTG's "Like the Deserts Miss the Rain". Tracey Thorn's voice is truly amazing and the overall talent of the collaboration is one of pure genius.
I would recommend this album to anyone and everyone. Submitted by a reviewer (Sydney, Australia) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 0 of 2 found this helpful.
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A True Classic - Bridge Across Time and Space
We have everything...but the girl
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